Adopted Together: The Flag, the Emblem, the Motto

Everything 26 January adopted

Two waves — one saffron, one green with a white crest — cross exactly behind the wheel, and the greeting below does the talking. It is the standard grammar of Republic Day art, and this piece speaks it fluently.

The flag did not enter the republic alone. On 26 January 1950 India also adopted its state emblem — adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath — with the motto Satyameva Jayate, “Truth alone triumphs,” from the Mundaka Upanishad, inscribed beneath it. Flag, emblem and motto: the republic’s full signature, completed in a single day.